What we learned from the indoor athletics season as track and field prepares to move outdoors

With the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 throwing up an abundance of thrills in the world of athletics, 2022 is primed to be a season to remember.

The World Athletics Championships take place in Oregan, USA between 15 and 24 July this year and the world's best athletes will be looking to prepare themselves as best they can for the most important track and field event of the year.

The first three months of this year concentrated on indoor action, with the 2022 IAAF World Indoor Championships taking place in March. Find out who is in form and who could make an impact during the rest of the 2022 season.

Mondo Duplantis

Like the great Sergey Bubka before him, Mondo Duplantis has made setting new world records his signature. The 22-year-old set not one but two pole vault world records during the indoor season, with both coming within a 13-day period.

On 7 March in Belgrade, Duplantis rose higher than any vaulter in history to set a new world record of 6.19 metres. bettering that mark less than two weeks later with a new record of 6.20.

Heading into the outdoor season, the Swede looks to be in unstoppable form with only the high standards he sets for himself standing between himself and more glory.

At Tokyo 2020, the Olympic champion took gold with a vault of 6.02 metres, with his closest competition coming from the USA's Christopher Nilsen who cleared 5.97 for silver and Rio 2016 gold medallist Thiago Braz who vaulted 5.87 to take bronze.

Braz followed up Tokyo 2020 bronze with silver at the World Indoor Championships and may once again prove to be Duplantis's closest competitor during the remainder of 2022.

Yulimar Rojas

Another athlete in the form of her life is Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas. The 26-year-old famously won gold at Tokyo 2020 with a world record jump of 15.67m that turned out to be one of the most memorable moments of the Games.

However, 2022 promises to be an event stronger year for Rojas, who smashed her own world record at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, soaring 15.74m to take gold and add another seven centimetres to her best mark.

The 1.92 metre tall athlete towers above many of her competitors but it is her domination on the field that makes her such a force in the sport. Her final jump in Belgrade was a metre farther than her closest rival could muster.

But don't think she's resting on her laurels.

“I was born to jump 16 metres,” she said ain an interview published in GoSports at the end of March. “This is what inspires me to inspire others to achieve their dreams, and help athletics remain the best sport in the world.”

Keely Hodgkinson

One athlete who missed the World Champs through injury but still made a huge impact on the indoor scene is Great Britain's Olympic 800m silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson.

The 20-year-old destroyed the British indoor 800m record by some seven-hundredths of a second, recording a time of 1:57.20 at February's Muller Grand Prix in Birmingham. The mark was also the sixth fastest in indoor history.

Despite making the British record her own, Hodgkinson was left slightly disappointed by one aspect of her run and will be looking to improve her racecraft as the outdoor season progresses.

"I was annoyed because I stumbled a bit on the last corner and I feel like that might have cost me a tenth of a second," she said. "But we’ll just correct that next time and hope I can go quicker. But I’m really happy with that race."

Hodgkinson will face stiff competition from the USA's Athing Mu at the World Championships in Oregan, with the 19-year-old Olympic champion racing on home soil after her brilliant gold-winning performance at Tokyo 2020.

Grant Holloway

Aiming to bounce back from the disappointment of Tokyo 2020, where he finished second to Jamaica's Hansle Parchment in one of the surprises of the Games, American Grant holloway started the year in irrepressible form with victory in the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Champs in Belgrade.

However, while gold was a strong statement to his outdoor rivals this year, more impressive still was his performance in the semi-finals where he equalled his own indoor world record with a time of 7.29 seconds.

Furthermore, Holloway's win in the final was one of the most dominant on record, as he beat his closest competitor by 0.11 seconds - the largest margin in indoor championships history.

Holloway is the reigning world champion at the longer 110m distance and will be looking to add more gold to his collection in July's showpiece in Oregan.

"I put the world on notice again," said Holloway after his victory in Belgrade. "Just trying to get some respect with every track meet I do... I'm in great shape. I'm leaving right where I left off last season."